Yawney would welcome challenge of continuing Norfolk's success

The move of Anaheim's AHL farm team to Norfolk will likely return Trent Yawney to familiar ice.

Yawney said he's heard nothing official yet, but that he hopes to stay with the organization in a coaching role. That puts him in line to be the bench boss of the Admirals, who are expected to become the affiliate of Anaheim.

It would be a good move for Yawney, who took over as associate head coach of the Syracuse Crunch last season. Yawney was the bench boss in Norfolk for the first five years of that organization's existence, 2000-05. He made the playoffs every season.

"I hope to. It hasn't been confirmed. But we talked about it earlier,'' Yawney said of returning to the Ducks. "I hope to have another chance at it. If that does occur, we'd be going back to where everything started. The fans are good. And it's a good city.''

I asked about bringing in a new affiliate, with an entirely new roster, to a fan base coming off the high of a Calder Cup and one of the most exciting teams in AHL history.

"I don't know if it makes it difficult,'' he said of expectations. "There's definitely a standard. But it's two different teams. This year is over. History isn't made every year. A lot of things have to go right. A lot of things did.

"There will be pressure. But I don't think it's bad pressure. When we first went to Norfolk, there really wasn't a standard.''

Yawney has never bought the excuse that playing in Norfolk is a drawback from a travel perspective. That was one of the reasons Tampa Bay used in explaining its move to Syracuse next season.

"I don't buy that at all. I think that's just an excuse,'' Yawney said. "I felt from a coaching perspective, it was an advantage. You spent so much time together. If there was such a big deal about practice time, they never win the Calder Cup like they did. In my five years there, those were among some of the closest teams I've been around.''

I also checked in with former Crunch/Admirals forward Alexander Picard, the playoff MVP. Earlier this season, he said he might consider playing overseas next year. Now, he's rethinking that.

"Right now, I'm just going to wait and see what's going to happen the next couple of weeks,'' he said. "We'll see what happens in the free agent market. I don't want to go to Europe thinking I should have stayed one more year (in North America). I don't want to have any regrets. Hopefully winning the Calder Cup, some team will give me one more chance.''

Picard, a very popular Crunch player, said he's heard from Syracuse fans asking him to come back here.

"A lot of people have talked to me from Syracuse,'' he said. "It's fun to see fans still remember me. It's touching my heart.''

I asked if he would consider re-signing with the Lightning, maybe putting him in line to play here again.

"I had some good meetings at the end with Julien (BriseBois). I'm going to keep everything open,'' he said.

- In other news, Tampa Bay has re-signed forwards Adam Hall and JT Wyman to contracts,Hall’s contract is a one-year, one-way deal, while Wyman signed a one-year, two-way contract.

Wyman, 26, played in 40 games last season with the Lightning, collecting two goals and 11 points to go along with eight penalty minutes. The Edina, Minnesota native set career highs during the 2011-12 season in games played, goals, assists (nine), points and game-winning goals (one).

The 6-foot-2, 199-pound forward recorded his first career NHL goal and assist on Dec. 29 versus the Montreal Canadiens. Wyman also appeared in 39 games with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL, tallying six goals and 12 points.